A reluctant cover mom, a nice lesson

The Editorial Team of Raising Maine Magazine was looking for a winter activity-type cover for February. Something to complement a couple of stories in that edition about getting outdoors in the winter and snow. My family fit that criteria but I was reluctant to be on the cover of the magazine. I don't care much for that kind of front-and-center attention.

Plus there is the reality that I hate primping for pictures and special events. I mean, I really hate it. Most days I don't make time to comb my hair (and anyone who sees me regularly knows this) and since makeup makes my eyes water, I don’t like to wear it. I'm definitely a wash-and-go type and find doing anything more than that a hassle.

But when I mentioned the cover possibility to the girls, they were enthusiastic. They wanted to do it and ultimately swayed me in to accepting the offer.

But after I agreed, I realized that making sure everyone had something <i>clean</i> to wear was going to be a challenge.

I’ve had my light gray snow pants for seven years and they have been my ONLY pair in all that time. To say that these pants have seen better days really is an understatement (same goes for my jacket, which has paint stains from an <a href=http://raisingmaine.mainetoday.com/blogentry.html?id=596>art project I did with L. a while back</a>). Fino’s snow pants and jacket have also been around as long as mine but with the darker colors, his stuff has fared better (at least to the casual eye). L.‘s snow pants were purchased at Goodwill and keep her warm in the snow but were in need of a good stain removal washing. L. got a new jacket in the fall that’s not really cold-weather weight (no lining) but she’s been wearing it with a fleece underneath and feeling comfortable this winter so at least her jacket was more presentable than the one she’d been wearing for the past couple of years (she’d painted theater signs in the old jacket so it really has seen better days). G. got a new winter jacket and new snow pants for Christmas so at least I didn’t have to worry about her stuff.

Then there were the gloves and hats to consider as well…

So I admit that I was stressing about making sure everyone looked presentable without buying new stuff (that was not in the family budget). When I mentioned this concern to a friend, she graciously offered to lend us some of her family‘s jackets and snow pants for the photo. We didn’t end up using any of it but it was a thoughtful gesture (thanks Meg!).

The one new thing in the photo was L.’s ear warmer. I have a simple pattern to make these fleece bands and the girls have made them for themselves as well as their friends. G. found one she wanted to wear for the picture but L. didn’t think we had any that matched her jacket so about an hour before the photo shoot she and I were sewing a new one. It was an indulgence but it made L. really happy and <a href=http://raisingmaine.mainetoday.com/photo.html?id=8903>she’s been wearing it ever since</a>.

The day of the shoot was one of the big storm days we had in January and Jill, the Raising Maine staff photographer, braved the tail end of the storm to meet up with us. We lent her a pair of snowshoes (she’d never tried it before so we were happy to introduce her to it) and led her down the trail so she could find a good spot for the photo, one that kept her camera gear a bit sheltered from the blowing wind and snow.

The kids wanted to ski through the hula hoops for an “action” shot so Jill indulged them with that request (which you’ll see on the inside cover) before we posed for a few others.

The girls really were in motion gliding through the hoops as Jill took this picture. They did a great job looking at the camera and timing their slide through the hoops simultaneously. It turned out to be a painless experience and I have to admit that I like this family photo (the falling flakes served as great camouflage for the not so new snow pants -- one more plus in my book for snow days). This photo really is us - wearing the snow gear and using the equipment like we do every weekend in winter.

I also think this experience was a nice teaching moment for my tween, soon-to-be-teen girls. Other than worrying about clean clothes, we didn’t give any thought to other photo shoot type pressures -- make-up and hair (well, except that the girls needed to wear braids in their thick hair to avoid it getting unruly blowing around in the storm). My approach for this photo was that the girls (and our family) should just be who they are -- and that it would be just right.

I think it was ... and the girls agreed.


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NEW COVER MOM CONTEST

The Raising Maine Editorial Team has decided to take a new approach to choosing cover moms for the magazine each month starting in April.

This linkage will be launched on the contest page of the site next week but I’ll offer those of you that read my blog a preview.

If you are a mom currently living in Maine and you‘re interested in being featured on the cover Raising Maine Magazine, you can be considered by telling us a bit about yourself (and note that active members on RaisingMaine.com will be given first consideration). Learn more about being a cover mom here. And please, read the rules carefully before entering.